Program On Ariz. Immigration Part News, Advocacy

The U.S. Supreme Court is getting ready to rule on Arizona's controversial immigration law and a lot of people in that state are watching closely. Tonight, nearly two dozen Spanish language radio and TV stations in Arizona are scheduled to run the same program about the immigration law. As NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports, they're walking a fine line between journalism and advocacy.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: In Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma, 23 TV and radio stations are running the half-hour program simultaneously. It spotlights Arizona's controversial immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, which would, among other things, require non-U.S. citizens to carry alien registration papers at all times. The show looks at the history of anti-immigration laws and their impact on families. Journalists from the regular news programs interview a civil rights lawyer and Latino Arizonans.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Spanish spoken)

BARCO: The hatred and terror against us is increasing, says one person who's interviewed. Another talks about how immigrants feel persecuted. The audience is invited to call into immigration lawyers who will answer questions from people confused about the bill.

BEN MONTERROSO: It is fear and it's misinformation. We need to ensure that our community understands that we have rights. That's why we're doing this.

BARCO: Ben Monterroso heads a non-partisan group that encourages Latinos to vote. He was able to organize Arizona's fiercely competitive stations to unite in their message.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HOY SOMOS ARIZONA")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Hoy Somos Arizona.

BLOCK: The show's title, "Hoy Somos Arizona" - "Today We Are Arizona" - echoes a political movement of immigrant supporters called Todos Somos Arizona, we are all Arizona.

VERONICA VIASANI: I think it's definitely different from what English language media would do and this is an unprecedented effort.

VIASANI: That's really the difference with Hispanic media. They're very well known for community journalism, for advocacy journalism. And I think that Hispanic media really knows who their audience is, and they're really serving that audience.

BARCO: Estrella TV is one of the Phoenix stations airing the show. Andres Angulo and is its vice president of news. He says although he's not against advocacy journalism, he doesn't think this show - presented as a news special - is partisan.

ANDRES ANGULO: We're journalists. Were not politicians, no. We are not like Fox News that they take a side to the right or the radio station that take a side to the left and they're not shy. We're not taking sides. We're just taking the side of the community to have a better understanding of a very hard, complicated, and controversial law that affect them directly.

BARCO: But Viasani says critics may misunderstand the show's attentions.

VIASANI: I wouldn't really be surprised if there is a backlash of because of this effort, accusations of trying to polarize the community. But I think in reality, the polarizing already happened when they actually did the bill.

BARCO: "Hoy Somos Arizona" will also be streaming live on the Internet and it's replacing the local newscasts on many of Arizona's Spanish language media.